Much Cheaper Alternatives to PurpleBricks

Compared to the traditional high-street estate agent, Purplebricks (the biggest and most popular online agent by a country mile) may seem a bargain, but when compared to their own digital kind… they’re as expensive as you can get. So let’s take a look at some much cheaper alternatives…

I guess when your brand is as strong as PurpleBricks’ you have the ‘ability’, or maybe even the right, to charge more than everyone else in the space. But what is their space?

See, Purplebricks, and a few of the other well-known online agents, have been smart. They’ve grabbed onto the whole “we’re so much cheaper than high-street agents” hook, and the punters are mesmerised by the savings, so-much-so that they’re not even considering how Purplebricks fair against their own kind– that is, other online agents.

For all intents and purposes, Purplebricks’ ain’t cheap when compared to other online estate agents. Actually, technically speaking, they’re a Hybrid Agent (a magical cocktail of online technology, mixed with knowledge, experience and expertise of local estate agents), but even with in that tidy little niche they ain’t the cheapest. No way near.

Unlike many with in the industry, I don’t have anything against Purplebricks, other than their super pretty website that I find tragically unusable. Seriously, it’s just plain nasty to operate. How the less internet savvy manage to navigate their way round that place, or find the relevant details, is totally beyond me. Or maybe they just don’t.

Misconceptions and other highly-rated options!

I’ve personally never used Purplebricks services (no, not because of the poor usability issues, although that’s a superb reason not to), and that’s because I’m, sadly, more in-tune with the ‘online agent’ vertical than the average person, so I’m aware of the arguably as good, and certainly much cheaper alternatives. So much cheaper that it’s impossible for me to want to give Purplebricks a spin.

By no means am I disputing their value or quality of service (’cause I have no personal basis for judgement), which can arguably be quantified by their [current] sparkling 9.5 / 10 rating on TrustPilot, but I’m also not oblivious of the turtles in the race which also have impressive ratings. But more on that shortly. First, let’s eliminate a couple of the most common misconceptions…

1) Nope, Purplebricks was not the first online agent to ever hit the market.

2) And nope, they’re not the only online (or ‘hybrid’) agent around. Far from it, in fact. Online agents have been multiplying by the day for years.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve been swindled, because you wouldn’t be totally stupid to have gobbled up either of those rumours, because it’s definitely no coincidence that Purplebricks’ brand is so strong that its exclusively synonymous with “Online Estate Agents” for so many. I’d also expect the same results if I pumped as much money as they have into marketing (according to this article on Property Industry Eye, they spent a staggering £8m on marketing alone in 2016, which is far more than any of their rivals. To give you some perspective, that’s more than Rightmove spent!).

So really, it shouldn’t come to any surprise that many of us have been brainwashed into thinking there isn’t more to the world of selling online, hence why Purplebricks have been the beacon of hope for so many of us when it comes to ‘selling property for less’. But eventually, with a bit of prodding and probing, even Truman realised there was another world outside, and maybe now its your turn…

Yup, some of you may have heard of a couple of the other big players in the market, like emoov and YOPA, because they’ve also spent their fair share on generating buzz. But meh, like everyone else they’re still trailing by significant distance, so I wouldn’t be totally surprised if you haven’t heard of them. But more to point, even beyond the alleged ‘Top 3’, there’s so many other wonderful (and cheaper) options to choose from.

To clarify, I’m not trying to discourage anyone from using any particular agent, be it Purplebricks, I’m just trying to throw some much-needed light onto the matter.

Online Vs Hybrid Agents

I mentioned Purplebricks is a hybrid agent, right? Do you know the difference between an “online agent” and “hybrid agent”? Did you even know there was a difference?

There is!

Ok, well, a ‘hybrid’ agent typically involves a local agent visiting your property to take an in-person valuation, and they also usually give you the option of paying extra for ‘hosted viewings’ (e.g. Purplebricks charge an additional £300 if you want their agent to take the viewings). Pure ‘Online agents’ don’t provide any of the face-to-face services. So instead of an in-person valuation, they’ll use their internal tools to provide you with a guide price.

It gets a little more confusing than that, though. While Purplebricks currently only offer a ‘hybrid’ package, many online agents offer both ‘hybrid’ and ‘online’ packages. You with me? Cool.

Either way, pure ‘Online agent’ packages are hell of a lot cheaper in general. As it stands, you can pick one up for £94 from the agent 99home. Yes, £94, and yes, that includes marketing on Rightmove & Zoopla. More details below…

Price/Service Comparisons

Right, so let’s start crunching some numbers to determine how much extra you’re currently having to cough up to work with the market leaders, Purplebricks, instead of some of the other respectable options…

Standard package

Please note, I try my best to keep the information of each agent up-to-date, but you should read the T&C’s from the agents’ website for the most up-to-date information.

Quite a range of prices and options, right? Who knew?

What/who do I recommend? Err… shuffle through the options and see which agent/package makes most sense for you. Sidenote, many of the packages have been applied with discount codes, some of which are utterly exclusive!

Top tip: if you’re happy to take your own viewings (which most people using online/hybrid agents are), and you’re comfortable with valuating your own home (here’s a complete guide on how to figure out how much your house is worth), then I would recommend using a pure online agent, otherwise you’re just paying for junk you don’t really need.

For a complete guide on online and hybrid estate agents, and all the options available…

Purplebricks and Lettings Services

Oh, another quick common misconception; Purplebricks are purely online estate agents, and only deal with property ‘sales’.

Not true, they now also offer letting services to landlords. Although, I’m reluctant to believe they’re taking the lettings division as seriously as their sales, because they’re currently not the market leaders in online lettings, but unsurprisingly, damn near the most expensive (if not the most expensive). Notice a trend?

My guess is, the money is in property sales, because I’m assuming that if they really, really, really wanted to, they could splash a bit of money around and corner the lettings sector, too, and knock off the current leaders, Upad and OpenRent (both super awesome online letting agents that I’ve used, highly recommended).

Anyways, their letting service costs left me kind of baffled, because their prices seem to be on-par with regular high-street agents. For example, their “tenant-find” service came back with a whopping £600 price-tag, for a property in Hertfordshire with a rental income of £1000 PCM! That doesn’t seem all that competitive, and if it is, I’d expect more of a saving from an online/hybrid service. Anyone else?

A little introduction...

I initially started this blog because I wanted to document my every step to becoming a BTL landlord,
in hope that others' (with more experience) would discover my dronings and have the heart to help me - a beetle on its back - along the way. I literally didn't have a clue about being a landlord
when I started this website.

Having expanded my property portfolio over the years, I now occassionally blog about my bitter life as a Landlord, so fellow Landlords (prospective, new, and seasoned) can learn from my few successes and frequent failures.

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